15 Months Old

Nicholas is now 15 months old.  Where does the time go?  

We had a good check-up today.  Here are his stats:

Weight: 20.6 (18%)
Length: 31.25 (50%)
Head: 19'' (85%)

He's growing and doing well.  He's been a little cranky lately but it's probably a combination of routine change (now that it's summer) and molars about to make their appearance.  He also got three shots today so that was just a nice bonus.

Foods he loves:  green beans, green grapes, string cheese, milk, club crackers, and apple sauce, especially from those little pouches.

He also likes chicken, apples, mangos, peaches, bananas, cheerios, yogurt melts, and occasionally mac n cheese and carrots (not together though).  He's pretty good about trying new things most of the time.  He likes eating with a spoon in his hand, though he's not really handy at using it yet.

Sleep:  Lately he's had a little trouble going down for good at night, but he's usually down about 7:30 and up around 6:30.  Naps are twice a day but vary in length.  1st nap happens around 10 (3 to 3.5 hours after waking up in the morning) and the 2nd happens about 3 to 3.5 hours after waking from the first nap.  If the first nap was longer than an hour, the 2nd nap can be a challenge, but he definitely still needs one.

Language:  He signs shoes, hat, (especially to communicate the desire to go outside), more, help, all done, milk.  He has mimicked water twice and bath, but always wants to sign bath on me instead of himself.  We watch Signing Time in the mornings during breakfast so he occasionally mimics the screen.  The other day he got a kick out of signing "gorilla."  He babbles a lot, makes car noises, and points.  He says mom & dad consistently.  He has said baby, up, "Ela" for Mikaela and is more intentionally about repeating our sounds now.  I haven't noticed many other words, but I think there's a few Spanish ones in there.  I'm sure when he's back with Mariel in August, those will increase.  He also waves bye-bye and blows kisses.

Activities:
building
knocking things down
playing with cars, complete with noises
yelling
playing the piano (toy or real)
dancing when there's music
running
climbing
playing in Mikaela's room (climbing on her bed, playing in her tent, dumping out her toys)
coloring
petting the dog
feeding the dog his food
playing outside
kissing the baby in the mirror
making beds on the floor with various pillows or blankets
"reading" books

good dog

swinging at the park

He's very stoic, but we think he liked it.

duet time

because doing down is just too easy...

stepping on the rainbow

messy dinner - not thrilled about the cleanup

Here are several videos to enjoy:

Playing in the playroom:

Building:

Concentrating:

Our environmentalist:

Swinging:

12 Months Old

This is about a week and a half late, but I was waiting for doctor stats.  He had an ear infection, and then our Beaver's Bend trip, so Nicholas finally had is 1 year check-up today.

Glad this was the last month because these are tough to get now!  See outtakes below.

Stats:
Weight: 17 lbs 14 oz (5%)
Length: 29.5 in (30%)
Head: 18.25 in (55%)

Language:
He sort of signs more and all done.  Milk is his most consistent, or a made up sign that best we figure means "Mommy".  He babbles and screams a lot but I don't know that we have any real words yet.  Just before the walking started he was focusing on people's speech and working very hard to mimic it.  That has decreased some, but motor skills have kicked in.

Motor Skills:
He is officially a walker.  He doesn't seem to be able to stand up without something to pull-up on, so if he falls while walking he crawls until he finds something or someone to use for pulling up.  He loves to throw balls.  Just today he was intentionally kicking a balloon as he walked.

Play:
He loves musical toys, blocks, cars, and Legos.  He is beginning to attempt building with Legos, though more just places them on top of each other rather than actually connect them.  He got a helicopter and a dump truck for his birthday and both are played with often.  He also loves push toys.  Anything that has wheels (bikes, scooters, etc), even if they are much larger than him and not meant to be a push toy, Nicholas will attempt to push them and squeal in the process.

Sleep:
He goes down consistently between 7:30 and 8 and sleeps till 5 or 6.  On the weekends, we can usually get him to go back down until 7, but during the week depending on when he wakes, he may be up.  He naps twice mid morning and after lunch.  Morning nap is typically 45 min to an hour.  Afternoon is typically 1 to 1.5 hours.

He loves to climb on people & the dog or basically any large object on the floor.  So, if ever you are at our house, chilling on the floor, be warned.

Food/Milk:
The last month of his "babyhood", I still had well over 200 oz of frozen milk, so I reduced/quit pumping at work and started using up bags.  We'd introduced formula at 9 mo just in case so he had a bottle of formula probably 3-5 times a week.  He sill gets Mama early morning and before bed, but dairy milk the rest of the time.  He will only drink it warm, though.  Stinker.  I leave for a school trip next weekend so we hope that will help end the desire for Mama.  We'll see...  We will transition completely off bottles after my trip (Daddy will use them to make the weekend of single fatherhood a little easier).

He loves applesauce and other pouches.  I plan to look at making our own pouch concoctions to sneak in some more veggies.  Sure hope his sister, The Picky One, will eat them, too.  He will try just about anything you put in front of him.  His favorites seem to be carrots, green beans, black beans, bread, chicken, pears, & bananas.  The food on Mommy, Daddy, or Mariel's plate almost always looks and tastes better.  He loves Gerber snacks on the go.




He has 5 teeth.  2 top and 2 bottom are fully in.  Another top broke through a couple weeks ago and is half in.  I think I see/feel two more bottom and another top breaking through, but it's hard to tell for sure.  He also seems to be gnawing on things in the back of his mouth, so some molars might also be trying to make their appearance.  He's been feeling poorly the past couple of days and running a low fever because of it.

He loves to climb stairs and will climb all the way up ours.  He also knows how to come down on his belly.  This is still a closely supervised activity, but he loves the chance to do it any opportunity he gets.

He and Mikaela play a lot together now.  Earlier this week Mikaela led him into her room and shut the door.  We listened to them play and laugh for a long time through the monitor.

And that's what the Little Man is doing at 1 year old.  Now for pictures:

  

Outtakes/Bloopers: